Lady Trojans smoke competition at 3A regional
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports wrtier
Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.
That phrase doesn't necessarily hold true when it comes to regional track meets. Sure, it's nice, but the main thing is to finish in the top four of an event to secure a spot at this weekend's state track championships held at Wichita State University's Cessna Stadium.
The Lady Trojans did both.
After a disappointing second place finish last week in the MCAA league meet, the Trojans proved they're still going to be a team to contend for a 3A title this weekend.
The Trojans captured five gold medals and sent qualifiers in 10 events on their way to cruising to a regional title Friday at Cheney with a dominating total score of 97.
"Team championships, gold medals, records, and personal bests aren't the goal, but rather the result of placing in this meet," Trojan track coach Dennis Boldt said. "To say we had a good day would be an understatement. Our athletes came to compete."
Runner-up Sacred Heart was 15 points behind the Trojans.
If the Trojans are going to compete for the state title, it will take a huge effort from the senior trio of JuliAnne Chisholm, Hannah Marsh, and Tina Frick.
Chisholm cleaned house as always, even with a sore leg, winning the 100- (15.25) and 300-meter hurdles (46.15), and soaring five feet, six inches for a first-place finish in high jump.
Chisholm is down to her last chance at breaking the 16-year high jump record of 5-9 set by Sterling's Renee Zimmerman. She tied the record at last week's league meet.
She also teamed up with Frick, Marsh, and Tiffany Rooker to qualify in the 4x400m relay with a second-place time of 4:07.96, behind Sacred Heart.
Frick qualified for three events including the relay, as she was .1 second behind Chisholm in the 100m hurdles for second place. She finished third in the 300m hurdles with a 47.78.
The speedster Marsh qualified for three other events with a fourth-place time of 26.42 in the 200m dash. Marsh already has had plenty of success on the track that she'll be competing on next season for Wichita State, and she'll be one to watch this weekend after winning both the long jump (16-9), and pole vault (10-0).
Freshman Dakota Kaufman conjured up the energy despite feeling under the weather to place second in the triple jump at 34-1.
Chelsea Bebermeyer rounded out the Lady Trojans' qualifiers with third place throws in the shot put (35-7.5) and discus (113-6).
Senior Tyler Kaufman provided perhaps the best performance by either team on the boys' side. He finished sixth last year in triple-jump, but the end of an outstanding career was bearing down on him as he was faced with possibly a fourth place finish, or not qualifying at all.
But Kaufman rose to the occasion, leaping into the state championship with his best jump of the day for a second place 41-11, a mere inch behind the biggest Trojan killer since Jordy Nelson, Garden Plain's Logan Dold.
In a similar manner to what Dold and the Owls did to almost everybody in football, Garden Plain ran roughshod over the competition with 122 points for first.
The Trojans qualified for eight events including Kauffman, picking up 63 points, one behind host Cheney.
The urgency also was there for Jacob Yoder, but not as much with this being only his junior season. Going into Friday, Yoder had the chance to qualify in four events starting with the long jump.
His third-place jump of 19-4.5 will allow him to crash the party this weekend, and his determination also carried over into helping him qualify as part of the 4x100 and 4x400m relay teams.
The 4x100 team of Michael Suderman, Yoder, Michael Tisdale, and Ishmael Morris was runner-up to Garden Plain in both short distance relays, with a 44.23 finish in the 100.
Sean Leihy has one last chance this weekend in the 1600m run with a fourth-place time of 4:42.80. Leihy also helped Spencer Brown, Matt Klenda, and Cody McMillen grab a gold medal in the 4x800m relay (8:22.40), and was in on the runner-up 4x400 (3:32.02) along with Yoder, Brown, and Morris.
McMillen will be another one to watch as he ran a meet-best 10:20.40 in the 3200m run.
Yoder came up 10 inches short of qualifying for a fifth event, but teammate and senior Adam Dirks' javelin throw of 159-02 allowed him to advance instead.
Friday's meet also marked the end for Lady Trojan seniors Megan McCarty and Elissa Richert, who wrapped up stellar high school careers. The pair will further their track careers next fall at Tabor College.
"Stepping up to the next level was the rule, not the exception in today's regional championship," said Boldt.
"Event after event we found ourselves on the bubble of qualifying, and instead of shying away and hoping other competitors would falter, we took the initiative to ensure qualification by achieving a better mark. We are thrilled to qualify so many athletes."
